April 2013 Summary

Runs - 21
Workouts (Weights) - 7
Running Days - 21
Avg Miles per Running Day - 11.3
Vert Feet Ran - 26,000

Outside of maybe 4 runs, all my Running days started at roughly 5:30am.  A necessity (and thankfully habit) that was needed if I was to get anything done this month.  Funny to look back at the month and find so many potential excuses to not run much.  Work could have been a great excuse.  To many 11 hour work days including some weekend work.  Weather may have been just as good as excuse.  Snow, temps in the teens, basically wintry conditions for a majority of Apr.

However that early time frame commitment to get my running in allowed me to stay the course with regards to my training.  And a solid training month it was.  The goal of 5 runs per week were met.  I'm sure some could argue more is needed per week, but I don't see the need to do so right now.  Each run is done for a reason.  There weren't any garbage miles (just a few tired runs including a tough 14 miler done hung over).  As the month continued on, I could feel myself getting stronger.  I'm comfortable in saying that I'm in better shape right now then I was entering the Moab race in Feb.

(Weekend long bachelor party in the mountains + Scotch = Hung Over Run)

The few extra days left in the week that I don't run are still focused in on the gym Lifting Weights.  This puts me at six straight months of having the weight room a main part of my training.  Limited in Dec/Jan by a messed up right shoulder, the past few months have seen huge improvements in weight being pushed.  I'm still sitting at a healthy weight in the low 180s.  Along with my boring healthy diet, my energy levels over the month have remained way high.

The one drawback of weight lifting is Doing To Much.  Which is exactly what happened during the middle of the month and left me rather flat for a few days.  After a strong 4 day stretch of running, I hit the weights hard.  So hard in fact that I was cashed the rest of day.  I'm sure the long work hours and poor diet during a short stretch didn't help, but it reminded me what my limits should be in the weight room.

My personal Push Up Challenge continues.  Averaging 135 per day for April and bringing down my YTD variance by 1,040 to (2,615).  I even did roughly 100 push ups over the month with my daughter either crawling on top of me or hammering away on me with a foam baseball bat.

Looking Forward

With two races in May, I'm still focused on the bigger picture.  My 50M in June.

Race #1 is the Collegiate Peaks 25M on May 4th.  A race that I'll be running as a part of my current training cycle.  The way I'll measure success at this race is based on how well I hydrated and fueled.  Honestly time is irrelevant but it'll be interesting to see how I tame my competitiveness once the races starts.  I'm hoping tired legs from a big week leading to the race curbs my desire to run fast or hard.  

Race #2 is Sun Mountain 50K on May 19th.  This race I'll take much more seriously.  I plan on sticking with my training cycle as race day approaches but know I'll be resting a bit as the trip to the State of Washington is part of a week long family vacation.  I'll get a few runs the week of the race but can't imagine ever going longer then 5M which would be done during the little ones nap.    

I don't get caught up on the Ultra Signup stats (actually think most of them are BS), but do find some of the numbers regarding the race itself interesting:

420 - Total Number of runners signed up for the 25K, 50K & 50M
1 - Number of runners from the State of Colorado

Lastly, I'm shooting for a strong month of running and getting into a groove of 6 runs per week.  Cutting back on the weight room but still keep it in the equation for a few more months.  I figure by July, I'll get away from the gym completely for a few months as I focus in on RRR100. It'll be an interesting transition that I'm hoping my body can handle.